Rachel Hagan,  Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Arthurton’s first ever lawn mower race day was a massive hit for the Yorke Peninsula with more than 1000 people attending the inaugural event.

About 40 competitors, from all over the state, made their way to Arthurton on weekend for the South Australian Lawn Mower Racing Association (SALMRA) and Arthurton Progress Association event.

Many competitors and spectators camped on Yorke Peninsula over the weekend, also visiting neighbouring towns.

Arthurton Progress Association president Sam Colliver said he was pleasantly surprised with the turnout, especially with the event falling on the same day as the YP Football League and YP Netball Association’s grand finals.

“They (SALMRA) are hopefully going to lock us in for another one next year,” Mr Colliver said.

Out of all 40 competitors, Mr Colliver was the only YP local to hit the track.

However, he said next year there may be a few more eager entrants ready to build their own mowers and compete.

“I had an absolute ball racing, and I managed to take out first place in the class I was racing in, which I wasn’t expecting,” he said.

The mowers’ maximum speed was capped at 70 kilometres per hour, but Mr Colliver said the highest anyone got to was about 42km/h on the back straight.

It might sound like a dangerous sport, since the intention of a lawn mower is to continuously and rapidly slice with sharp blades.

However, Mr Colliver was happy to report there were no blades in this competition, and all competitors managed to walk away with their limbs intact.

While the official races were popular, the crowd favourites were the “just for fun” Hot Laps, and Mother and Daughter races after the competition, he said.

“Now that we know what we can expect, we can build on that to make it bigger and better in the future.”

This article appeared in  Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 24 September 2024.